4 ms·

It doesn't even have to taste like meat. I just don't like to eat tasteless rubber. Then the next problem is that I'm poor bastard. I can buy groung pork for 4

by vlehto 11y ago

It doesn't even have to taste like meat. I just don't like to eat tasteless rubber. Then the next problem is that I'm poor bastard. I can buy groung pork for 4,50e/kg, or half a chicken for 2,50e/kg. Tofu costs 12e/kg in supermarket, I could eat pretty decent beef for that price. I usually can afford eating in a restaurant maybe once in a month. So if I find good tofu, it's really not going to change my diet. According to some studies beef/pork/chicken production consumes resources in that order. Also they churn out CO2 and other pollutants in that order. And they cost money in that order. Price is roughly proportionate to enviromental impact. Why is tofu so freaking expencive?

SwellJoe 11y ago
Ah, so you've never had well prepared tofu. That is an entirely understandable situation to be in; I was an adult before I'd eaten good tofu, even growing up in a city that had a reasonably large Asian population. It can be tricky to get it right (when preparing it at home, without a pro gas wok cooker, for most types of fried or sauteed tofu, draining, pressing, and then freezing it provides a nice texture and makes it easier to marinate effectively, as the freezing puts tiny holes in it). As for price, I don't know. That's not been my experience. In the U.S., even small cities with limited options, it is never much more than $2/pound, which is, I believe, competitive with most meats, though it has been a long time since I've bought meat (I was regularly buying chicken for my dog a few years ago when she had cancer and had a poor appetite, and I seem to recall it was a couple bucks a pound). Asian markets are consistently the cheapest place to buy tofu, and often have fresh, locally made, tofu for good prices. At least that is true for much of the U.S. and Canada. Where do you live? Is there a "little China" or "Chinatown" in your city? That might be a place to go to check out your low priced tofu options. Other vegan alternatives to meat include seitan (made from wheat gluten and costs about $3/pound to make using expensive organic wheat gluten and organic packaged vegetable broth...I've made it much cheaper than that) tempeh (expensive when packaged but can be made at home with all sorts of beans, including soy), and, of course just eating nuts, beans, lentils, etc. There doesn't have to be a slab of "meat" on the plate for a meal to be satisfying and delicious. I've gone years without buying tofu (only eating it when eating out, since it took me a while to figure out how to make it well), or eating any of the faux meats. There are plenty of vegans and vegetarians that don't eat tofu. I happen to really like it, especially now that I've learned a few ways to prepare it that are really tasty.
- vlehto 11y ago
  I live in Helsinki, Finland. There is kind of China Town in my city. The local technology university has somewhat high Chinese population. I lived at the uni campus and there was this incident about shady van going around and distributing weird packages to Chinese in exchange of money. Someone called cops because "maybe there is drugs!". It turned out they had organized tofu van, because they could not find cheap good tofu anyway else.
  - SwellJoe 11y ago
    I love the idea of a tofu van! We have many, many, food trucks in Austin, but they're for prepared foods. If I could get fresh tofu delivered at a reasonable cost I would be very happy. Home production of tofu is possible, just not at all simple. It's very time-consuming, and getting the equipment and consumables to make it well would add up to a not inconsequential sum. I plan to try it someday, but not while I'm living in a travel trailer (very small kitchen, very little spare storage for supplies). Seitan is definitely the easier of the meat substitutes to make at home; only takes an hour and a half, only 20 minutes of which is prep time, the rest is simmering, boiling, steaming, or baking. I just made a seitan roast, with stuffing and mushroom gravy, for Thanksgiving. I posted the recipe because a friend asked me to: http://foodcite.org/recipe/seitan-roast-a-vegan-turkey-alternative/ http://foodcite.org/recipe/seitan-roast-a-vegan-turkey-alter... I've also used the Post Punk Kitchen seitan recipe: http://www.theppk.com/2009/11/homemade-seitan/ http://www.theppk.com/2009/11/homemade-seitan/ (I recommended reducing the soy sauce dramatically, as it's just way too salty, when following the recipe exactly; also I use about half the recommended amount of boiling broth for twice the amount of seitan. It's just hard to use up that much broth before it goes bad in the fridge. I usually make gravy and maybe seitan and dumplings with the remaining broth.) I still haven't figured out how to make Chinese style seitan, which is also really good and tends to have a very soft texture, while still being properly cooked (my seitan gets chewy, kinda roast beef-like or like a chicken breast, by the time it is finished cooking, no matter whether I'm boiling, steaming, or baking it). But, you can often buy it cheaply in dry chunks at Asian markets. Canned wheat gluten is also a common thing, and not very expensive.

by vlehto 11y ago

SwellJoe 11y ago

Ah, so you've never had well prepared tofu. That is an entirely understandable situation to be in; I was an adult before I'd eaten good tofu, even growing up in a city that had a reasonably large Asian population. It can be tricky to get it right (when preparing it at home, without a pro gas wok cooker, for most types of fried or sauteed tofu, draining, pressing, and then freezing it provides a nice texture and makes it easier to marinate effectively, as the freezing puts tiny holes in it). As for price, I don't know. That's not been my experience. In the U.S., even small cities with limited options, it is never much more than $2/pound, which is, I believe, competitive with most meats, though it has been a long time since I've bought meat (I was regularly buying chicken for my dog a few years ago when she had cancer and had a poor appetite, and I seem to recall it was a couple bucks a pound). Asian markets are consistently the cheapest place to buy tofu, and often have fresh, locally made, tofu for good prices. At least that is true for much of the U.S. and Canada. Where do you live? Is there a "little China" or "Chinatown" in your city? That might be a place to go to check out your low priced tofu options. Other vegan alternatives to meat include seitan (made from wheat gluten and costs about $3/pound to make using expensive organic wheat gluten and organic packaged vegetable broth...I've made it much cheaper than that) tempeh (expensive when packaged but can be made at home with all sorts of beans, including soy), and, of course just eating nuts, beans, lentils, etc. There doesn't have to be a slab of "meat" on the plate for a meal to be satisfying and delicious. I've gone years without buying tofu (only eating it when eating out, since it took me a while to figure out how to make it well), or eating any of the faux meats. There are plenty of vegans and vegetarians that don't eat tofu. I happen to really like it, especially now that I've learned a few ways to prepare it that are really tasty.

vlehto 11y ago
I live in Helsinki, Finland. There is kind of China Town in my city. The local technology university has somewhat high Chinese population. I lived at the uni campus and there was this incident about shady van going around and distributing weird packages to Chinese in exchange of money. Someone called cops because "maybe there is drugs!". It turned out they had organized tofu van, because they could not find cheap good tofu anyway else.
- SwellJoe 11y ago
  I love the idea of a tofu van! We have many, many, food trucks in Austin, but they're for prepared foods. If I could get fresh tofu delivered at a reasonable cost I would be very happy. Home production of tofu is possible, just not at all simple. It's very time-consuming, and getting the equipment and consumables to make it well would add up to a not inconsequential sum. I plan to try it someday, but not while I'm living in a travel trailer (very small kitchen, very little spare storage for supplies). Seitan is definitely the easier of the meat substitutes to make at home; only takes an hour and a half, only 20 minutes of which is prep time, the rest is simmering, boiling, steaming, or baking. I just made a seitan roast, with stuffing and mushroom gravy, for Thanksgiving. I posted the recipe because a friend asked me to: http://foodcite.org/recipe/seitan-roast-a-vegan-turkey-alternative/ http://foodcite.org/recipe/seitan-roast-a-vegan-turkey-alter... I've also used the Post Punk Kitchen seitan recipe: http://www.theppk.com/2009/11/homemade-seitan/ http://www.theppk.com/2009/11/homemade-seitan/ (I recommended reducing the soy sauce dramatically, as it's just way too salty, when following the recipe exactly; also I use about half the recommended amount of boiling broth for twice the amount of seitan. It's just hard to use up that much broth before it goes bad in the fridge. I usually make gravy and maybe seitan and dumplings with the remaining broth.) I still haven't figured out how to make Chinese style seitan, which is also really good and tends to have a very soft texture, while still being properly cooked (my seitan gets chewy, kinda roast beef-like or like a chicken breast, by the time it is finished cooking, no matter whether I'm boiling, steaming, or baking it). But, you can often buy it cheaply in dry chunks at Asian markets. Canned wheat gluten is also a common thing, and not very expensive.